Southern State Parkway near exit 17, Malverne · Sunday, March 15, 2026, about 10:15 p.m.
A 36-year-old Oceanside woman has been indicted on aggravated vehicular homicide and more than a dozen other charges after prosecutors say she drove drunk at more than 80 miles an hour, crossed the Southern State Parkway's center guardrail, and crashed head-on into a car carrying a husband and wife, both pastors, who were killed.
What prosecutors say happened
According to the Nassau County District Attorney, Diana Kutateladze was driving her 2020 Cadillac Escalade west on the Southern State Parkway in Malverne at about 10:15 p.m., with her husband in the passenger seat. Near exit 17 she allegedly sideswiped a BMW, then went over the center guardrail into the eastbound lanes and hit a 2016 Toyota Highlander head-on.
Two passengers in the Toyota, Donald Maxwell, 82, and Liscent "Barbara" Maxwell, 88, were killed. The couple were pastors at the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Far Rockaway. The Toyota's 71-year-old driver was seriously injured, and Ms. Kutateladze's husband was critically hurt. Three more vehicles crashed into the wreckage, and several other drivers were injured.
Prosecutors say the Escalade's event data recorder showed 81 miles an hour five seconds before the crash, on a parkway with a 55 mile-an-hour limit. Blood drawn at the hospital about an hour after the crash allegedly showed a BAC of .15. She was arrested the next day by the New York State Police, which patrols the parkway.
The charges
On April 24, 2026, she was arraigned on an indictment charging two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide (a class B felony), first-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts of second-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault (class C felonies), second-degree vehicular manslaughter, first-degree vehicular assault, four counts of second-degree assault (class D felonies), second-degree vehicular assault, felony DWI per se (class E felonies), third-degree assault, DWI and reckless driving. She pleaded not guilty and was remanded. The maximum sentence is 8 1/3 to 25 years.
What those charges mean
Aggravated vehicular homicide requires reckless, impaired driving that causes a death, plus an aggravating factor. A BAC of .15 is below the .18 threshold that counts as an aggravator by itself, but the others the law lists include causing more than one death, and causing a death along with serious injury to someone else. Prosecutors allege both.
The DWI per se count is charged as a class E felony. Without a child in the car, a felony DWI generally means prosecutors are alleging a prior DWI conviction within the previous ten years, which is itself another aggravating factor under the homicide statute.
The event data recorder matters as much as the blood test. The speed reading helps prosecutors prove recklessness, the element that separates vehicular homicide from a DWI crash, and defense lawyers in cases like this test how the data was downloaded and whether it is accurate.
Where the case stands
We found no public report of a plea or verdict as of September 2026. Ms. Kutateladze is presumed innocent.
Related: felony DWI · aggravated DWI
This article is drawn from public court filings, official releases and news reports, and is provided for general information only. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt. Every person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. Nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case, and nothing here is legal advice.